How Love Blossoms Beneath the Sakura Tree
by ToraYashaChan
Summary: What if the Uchiha masacre never happened? How would things be different? And what if Sakura was betrothed to the eldest Uchiha, but she hated hime? See full summary inside. ItachiSakura rated T for swearing. Chapter 3 up!
1. At the Memorial Stone

**Summary: You could call this sorta AUish...whatever floats your boat. This is what if the Uchiha masacre never happened? Sakura gets pissed at Itachi, and hits him when he says a hurtful comment. But then Sakura finds out that she has to get MARRIED to him. This fic is how Sakura and Itachi's relationship changes from Sakura hating Itachi's gut, being friends, then to love! please R&R! I have cookies! -has an endless plate of chocolate chip cookies-**

**Pairings: ItachiSakura and some others -will list them later**

**Itachi: -appears holding a card- Suki would like tothank her Beta,AbeoUmbra, for all her help. She would also like to say that she dosesn't own Naruto, or any of the characters, in any way, shape, or form. Sheonly her OC Tsuki. That is all...-dissapears ina a puff of smoke-**

**Suki: Yes! ABEOUMBRA IS MY GOD! -clings to Star- I love you Star-Sama!**

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**How Love Blossoms Beneath the Sakura Tree**

**by: ToraYashaChan**

**Chapter 1: At the Memorial Stone**

_'Side kick, dodge, throw shirukens, kick, punch, side kick, right hook, dodge, punch, duck, throw some kunais.'_

This is what was going on in eighteen-year-old Haruno Sakura as she sparred with her teammates- Naruto and Sasuke.

_'Kick, hit, throw some more kunais, side kick, dodge.'_

Sakura continued in this type of pattern in her head as she sparred with her friends.

There hadn't beenmany important ANBU missions recently- only a couple in the past month, and those missions hadn't been very hard. Just your average rogue ninja who thought he was all that, but turned out to be just some punk who would get his ass kicked by the ANBU with ease.

The three of them wanted to stay in shape, so they trained almost daily for three to five hours- either sparring or improving their techniques. After all you never knew when a real threat, like the ex-legendary Sanin, Orochimaru, would rear his ugly head and attack Konoha, better safe then sorry.

After about five hours of sparring with each other, only taking two or three water breaks, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all fell to the ground, totally exhausted from their training.

"Ngh...What a work out, eh guys?" Sakura said in a joking tone, rolling onto her stomach to look at her teammates, despite how tired she was.

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Y-yeah, I'll say." The blond haired Jounin replied in agreement. He cracked his neck, considering that while they had been sparring, Sakura had almost dislocated it when delivering him a hard punch to the head.

"Hn..." Was the tired and nonchalant reply from the youngest member of the Uchiha Clan as he stared up at the sky, lazily the three watched the clouds roll by in the sky. Moments went by in comfortable silence, continuing to watch the clouds while their tired bodiesrecuperated.

After a while, Sakura gave a yawn, covering her mouth as she did so.

"Man...I'll be sleeping like a baby tonight." She said softly, pushing herself into a sitting position.

Her teammates nodded in agreement.

"Mhm..." Naruto mumbled sleepily.

She brought herself into a standing position, stretching out the kinks in her back and shoulders, "I should get home and get dinner ready, okay guys?"

Her teammates nodded in understanding. Sakura lived a hard life, she had lost her parents at age ten, and they hadn't given her a guardian to take care of her. They knew that she was most likely going to the memorial stone to visit her parents, and they knew better than to question Sakura on her antics.

"Yeah...I should probably do the same." Sasuke replied, pulling himself up into a standing position as well.

"Mom wants me to help her with a few things since it's the servants' day off today, and Itachi is off on a mission with some ANBU. They should be getting back tomorrow, considering they left two days ago, and the mission isn't that far from Konoha."

Cracking his neck again, Naruto stood up and stretched as well.

"Yeah, me too. Iruka is supposed to be getting back from his most recent mission today, andI promised I would meet him at Ichiraku's when he got back." He said, smiling sheepishly.

Grinning, Sakura nodded. She found Naruto's affection towards his former teacher absolutly adorable.

"I shouldgo see if he's back yet. See you two tomorrow!" And in puff of smoke, the blond was gone.

Eyeing Sasuke for a moment, Sakura pondered on what to say to her teammate.

After a moment or two, the pink-haired medic finally spoke up,"Um...Sasuke. Would you liketo walk home together since we go in the same direction?" The pink haired medic questioned, tilting her head cutely at the young Uchiha. Shrugging, Sasuke nodded and began leaving the clearing as Sakura followed him. They walked together for a while in comfortable silence.

**Near the memorial stone in Konoha---------------------------------**

When Sasuke and Sakura were walking by the area where the Memorial stone was, Sakura 'ahemed' softly and told Sasuke she was going to visit the Memorial Stone, and excused herself to go to the said stone.

Sakura was pretty sure that Sasuke knew why she was going to the Memorial Stone, considering he was the first of her team to find her crying. It had happened a year or so after they had been put on the same team together.

**-Flashback-**

Sakura was kneeling at the Memorial Stone, crying like there was no tomorrow-the pain of her parent's death was still very strong.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" Tears flowed down her cheeks like a river whose dam had been blown apart. In fact, that's exactly how she felt. The pink haired Kunoichi had been suppressing the sadness and pain since her parent's funeral. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't cry anymore, she needed to be strong.

But recently, the pain had been growing and kept on eating away at the dam that had been keeping the sadness and pain at bay, and it had finally crumbled.

So, here she was blubbering like a foolin front of theMemorial Stone.

_'I only hope that nobody comes by and sees me like this...'_ Sakura thought to herself as she made many futile attempts to stop herself from crying. Rocking herself as she cried.

**Fifteen to Twenty Minutes later--------**

Suddenly, Sakura heard footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder slowly, sniffing softly.

"S-Sasuke-kun...?"

The pink haired kunoichi was pretty sure her face was as red as a cherry. She turned her gaze back to the stone, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

Uchiha Sasuke was watching his teammate in silence,pondering whether or not he should try and comfort her. With a sigh, he walked over to Sakura and sat down next to her, looking at her with concern.

"Is this something you want to talk about?" He asked gently, motioning to theMemorial Stone,unsure of how to address the girl who was crying to the stone in front of him.

Sakura just stared at the Memorial Stone, debating whether or not it was wise to tell her teammate, and friend, about her parents.

_'If I tell him, at least he'd know. And that would give me someone to go to for comfort when I get like this...'_

In the end, Sakura broke down again, and told her teammate everything, from how her parents had died in front of her- and how she'd been living alone for three years ever since without a guardian or anyone to fill the void in her heart. **(AN: o.o wow...how sappy XD please don't kill me for it! -cowers-)**

All the while, Sasuke listened attentively until Sakura had finished.

When she had finally finished spilling her guts out to him, Sasuke pondered on how to comfort his friend. After all that they'd been through with Naruto, the two of them were like a brother and sister to him.

Sighing, he pulled her into a comforting embrace. Sasuke didn't know what to say to try and comfort her, so he didn't say anything at all. The pair stayed like that for a while, just sitting in silence.

After a while, Sakura's crying subsided to just periodic sniffles. Sasuke rubbed her back, "Will you be alright now Sakura?" He questioned, still looking concerned, the pink-haired kunoichi nodded in response.

"Y-yes. Thank you, Sasuke-Kun, this means a lot to me." Sakura replied, gratitude showing clearly in her voice. Sasuke stood up then, offering his hand to Sakura to help her up.

"You're welcome. Hey, Haruno, would you like to come to my house for dinner?"

Sakura took his hand gladly and pulled herself up.

"S-sure. Arigato Sasuke-Kun." She replied softly with a nod, smiling at the young Uchiha gratefully, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks.

The young Uchiha smiled back at his female teammate and began heading to his home in town with Sakura next to him.

**-End Flashback-**

Sakura smiled as she headed towards the stone. That had been five years ago, and the three of them had grown even closer in those five years, along with Kakashi-Sensei. Sasuke and Naruto were like brothers to her now, and they both thought of her like the sister they never had.

Continuing on her way to the Memorial Stone, she started humming a little tune. Sakura had wanted to bring flowers to her parents, but she hadn't had time to get them from Ino's family flower shop.

_'I'll come tomorrow and bring them those flowers from the flower shop...'_ she thought to herself as she made her way to the stone.

When Sakura finally reached the memorial stone, she knelt down in front of it and sighed, a sad smile on her face

"Hey mom, hey dad. I'm back, finally. Sorry I haven't been able to visit you for a while." she said apologetically, as she closed her eyes legs tucked under her as her brought her hands together in her lap.

She imagined hermom and dadsmiling at her- holding her closely as they listened to her soft words.

Sakura felt tears build up in her eyes as the memories of her parents flooded her mind. She missed them terribly.

_'Damn it! I'm crying again. I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore...'_

After a while she calmed down her crying,

"There haven't been a lot of missions lately. But I've been training nonstop, plus, the work at the hospital is time consuming." The pink haired kunoichi added, making amends to the spirits of her parents.

She then began to talk about things that had been going on in Konoha recently; like how different people that had been close to her parents were doing. How her job at the hospital was going, what her teammates had been up to, and various other events that had happened.

When Sakura ran out of things to say she said goodbye to her parents and turned around. When she turned around to leave, she saw Uchiha Itachi standing nearby, staring at her intently.

"Uh...I...Itachi-Sama. You're back from your mission already? Sasuke-Kun said you wouldn't be back till tomorrow."

"Hn..." The Uchiha Prodogy replied in a stoic manner.

"So...how'd it go?" Sakura questioned, titling her head cutely.

Itachi shrugged, "fine. Just another rogue ninja that needed detaining."

"Oh. I see, that sounds pretty boring."

"Hn..."

The pink-haired kunoichi was beginning to feel uncomfortable and very irked with the small talk that was going on between them.

**'Damn it, doesn't the guy say more than just a few words at a time?'** Inner Sakura exclaimed in annoyance.

Itachi walked up to the stone, only a few feet away from the pink-haired medic.

"Who were you visiting?" He questioned, his gaze locked on the rock with the names of ninja who died in combatetched on its surface.

Sakura sighed and sat back down where she had been standing, "I'm visiting my parents. Why do you ask?"

She looked up at him with a questioning look on her face.

Shrugging, Itachi looked over at Sakura, "Why do you grieve over weaklings like them? They died too easily on a simple mission. They don't deserve anybody's sympathy," the Uchiha prodigy said coldly. Giving her a gaze that could turn anybody to an ice sculpture.

The pink-haired medic's eyes widened in shock for a second,quicklynarroweddangerously, the vein in her forehead twitching in annoyance. Haruno Sakura was pissed.

Standing up suddenly, Sakurawalked up to theUchiha prodigy, and then, without warning,punched his jaw as hard as she could.

"For you're information, _Itachi-sama_, my parents were STRONG ninjas! They died nobly protecting Konoha! Don't EVER say something like that ever again!"

Sakura ran from the stone back to town, tears forming in her eyes again at Itachi's words.

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**Suki: -squeals with happiness- **

**Gaara: -rolls eyes- what are you so happy about? it's total crap...**

**Suki: -glares daggers at Gaara- shut up! It's GOOD...do you want me to pair you with Rock Lee as punishment?**

**Gaara:-glares- ...**

**Suki: that's what I thought -smirks smuggly- anyways! R&R! I'll write a oneshot of whatever pairing for the first person to review this story! -nods, looking hopefully at all the reviewers-**


	2. Hurt Feelings and an Unexpected Reunion

**Suki: HAHA! I have returned with a new chapter! Who here loves me for updating so quickly? If you love me, wave your hands in the air like you just don't care! -is happy as a clam-. Ahem. ANYWAYS I'd just like to thank all my refiewers! 14 reviews for the first chapter, I'm so honored. I never thought people would like my story so much. So, THANK YOU! -glomps all her reviewers-.**

**Disclaimer: I still do NOT own Naruto, other than a Kakashi plushie and keychain and some DVDs of the series, I own NOTHING, you hear me you federal beurocrats? -shakes angry fist at said federal beaurocrats, glaring daggers at them-.**

**Also, THANK YOU KITTEN DICTATOR FOR BETAING MY FIC! -clings to her- **

**Oh, and I edited Chapter 1. Just wanted to let you know in case you want to see the updates -nods-**

_'italics' _thoughts

**'bold'** Inner Sakura

"Normal text" talking out loud

**Suki: So, Without Further Ado, ONWARD WITH THE FANFICTION! -does a cheesey Rock Lee nice guy pose-**

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**How Love Blossoms Beneath the Sakura Tree**

**By: ToraYashaChan**

**Chapter 2: Hurt Feelings and an Unexpected Reunion**

The 18-year-old kunoichi ran stumbling through the streets of Konoha, her vision blinded by the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.

Sakura didn't really know, or care, of the reason why she was actually able to navigate without her sight. All she knew was that she needed to get out of there and back home as quickly as possible.

'_I got to get out of here! I can't let people see me like this, it would be so embarrassing. How would I explain myself?'_

She just needed to be alone for a while to get control of her emotions again.

Why did Itachi have to be such a god damned jerk all the time? What had possessed him to say something like that about HER parents?

'**What an asshole!'** Inner Sakura screamed angrily, **'Get BACK there and kick his ass! That prick deserves nothing less than a good beating! Don't you have any backbone!'**

For a moment, Sakura considered going back and doing just that, but, in the end, decided against it.

'_I was only able to hit Itachi back there because I caught him off guard. If I were to try something like that again, I wouldn't be so lucky.'_

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Sakura, miraculously, made it home without crashing into anybody or tripping over anything in the streets as she ran like the devil was at her heels.

When she finally made it home and burst through the door, Sakura immediately made a B-line to her bedroom and stayed there the rest of the night, crying like there was no tomorrow.

Sakura felt like shit. She hadn't felt this horrible since her parents died eight years ago.

"D-damn that stupid Itachi to hell! W-why did he have to go say that about my parents? They didn't do anything to deserve being bad-mouthed like that!"

She clutched her pillow, and began sobbing with all the sorrow and grief that was bubbling up from the darkest recesses of her heart. **(A/N: God...that makes me sound like such a sap XD)** She cursed the name of the man who had put her in her current state. Sakura had never cried this hard before in her entire life, not even when her parents died, she just hadn't.

"This sucks!" the pink haired kunoichi exclaimed in frustration, yelling as loudly as she could, "Damn you to Hell, Itachi! I hate you!"

Sakura knew that the Uchiha prodigy couldn't hear her, and even if he could, he probably wouldn't give a damn about it, but she wanted to let out her frustrations somehow, and yelling at the top of her lungs seemed to be the best way to do just that.

At least it was making her feel better. But it did nothing to cease the tears streaming down her face.

For the first time in a many, many years, Sakura cried herself sleep, a fitful sleep filled with nightmares about her parents' deaths.

**Itachi's POV----------------**

Itachi stood in the same spot he had been when Sakura hit him with a stunned expression on his face, like someone had slapped him in the face with a tone of bricks, which, ironically, was exactly what the medic's punch had felt like.

She had been the first person to hit him, not even the high-classed rogue ninjas he fought on missions were ever able to hit him, or take him by surprise like that girl had.

He stood there in the same spot for about ten to fifteen minutes until the shock had worn off and he walked back into town and headed for home, pondering all the while about the kunoichi who had punched him.

At home, the Uchiha prodigy went directly to bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas, and fell asleep almost instantly.

**The Next day-----------------------**

The next day, Sakura appeared in a puff of smoke in the clearing where Sasuke, Naruto, and she would train.

"I'm the first one here?" she said quizzically, sounding a little bit surprised.

Sasuke came out from behind a nearby tree, "Sakura, can I talk to you for a minute please?"

Sakura blinked in confusion, "Oh, good morning Sasuke! Yeah, sure. What do you need to talk about?"

The young Uchiha walked up to his female teammate, "My family is holding a banquet at the end of next week. My brother's fiancée is going to be announced at that banquet, and my father asked me to invite you personally, to make sure you would come. He said it's important that you do so."

The pink-haired medic of team seven blinked in surprise, "Why does your father want me to come?" she asked, looking puzzled.

Sakura was confused. Why would Uchiha-sama want to make sure that she was present at the banquet? But there was one thing she knew, if Uchiha-sama specifically asked for her to come, there was NO way she was getting out of it.

Sasuke just shrugged, "I don't know. I asked him, but he wouldn't tell me the reason why."

His statement just about settled the matter, there was absolutely no way for Sakura to get out of going to the banquet. She was going, and that was final.

"Yeah... tell your father that I'll be there." She said, doing everything she could to hide her disappointment.

Smiling, Sasuke handed Sakura a letter that was addressed to her, "Good. Here's the invitation with all the information on it."

Sakura took the letter and stuck it in her weapons pouch, "Thank you. Now, shall we spar until Naruto shows up?"

The young Uchiha nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he replied, grinning at her, "and, unlike yesterday, I'm going to kick your ass!" he exclaimed jokingly.

The pink-haired kunoichi just smirked, "In your dreams pretty boy," she countered, playing along with her teammate.

Sasuke smirked as well, "We'll just have to see," he shot back, getting into his fighting stance and cracking his knuckles.

Snorting with false indignation, Sakura got into her own fighting stance, "Yes, we'll just have to see, pretty boy."

And with that, they lunged at each other, and the sparring match began. The pair was going so fast, they looked like a flurry of arms and legs. A person with normal vision wouldn't be able to keep up with their movements for very long. And even then, a person with superior vision would have a hard time keeping up with them.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

After a while, a man of medium height with silver hair came strolling into the clearing in a nonchalant manner. He was reading a book while he walked. Stopping suddenly, he looked over at the pair that was sparring, and the one eye you could see curved up, showing that the man was smiling.

Then, without warning, the silver-haired shinobi threw a shiruken into the flurry of arms and legs that was Sasuke and Sakura.

The sparring match stopped when the two noticed the alien weapon, they both looked up to catch the identity of the owner.

"Yo... It's been a while. How've you two been holding up?" the silver-haired ninja said in a lazy manner, eye still curved upward, showing that he was smiling.

Sakura's eyes nearly bugged out of her head in surprise, "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" She exclaimed in surprise.

Kakashi suddenly found himself tackled to the ground with a pink-haired kunoichi hugging his waist fiercely. He laughed heartily, finding the medic's antics quite funny.

"It's good to see you too, Sakura-chan," he said in an endearing tone, hugging her back gently.

'_She hasn't changed a bit since I last saw her.'_ Kakashi thought to himself, still grinning under his mask. _'I'm glad.'_

Walking up to the scene, Sasuke smirked, "Hey there Sensei... good to see you're alive. We haven't seen you in a long time, we were starting to think your old age was getting to you," the young Uchiha said jokingly.

Kakashi chuckled, looking up at his former student, "You two were worried about me? I'm touched Sasuke."

Turning his gaze back to his female student, "It's been what, 2 years since you went on to become a jounin, and you couldn't even write a card, or come and visit me, Sakura? I've been so lonely these past couple of years. I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten about me," he said with mock hurt in his voice.

Sakura rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Kakashi. "I sent you a post card last week you drama queen! You have NO room to complain," she shot back in a joking manner, smirking at her former sensei, still hugging him around his waist.

Kakashi's eye curved upwards again into a smile, "Yes, yes. I know, I was only kidding," he replied, his voice sounding quite amused.

The young Uchiha watched the scene going on in front of him, amusement showing clearly on his face. When Kakashi-sensei was around, things were always interesting

Smiling at her former sensei, Sakura let Kakashi out of her vice-like hug, grinning mischievously at him.

'_She's gotten a lot stronger since the last time I've seen her. Sakura's strength is impressive. I guess that's what happens when you're trained by one of the legendary Sanin.'_

Suddenly, Naruto came running into the clearing, panting hard like he had just run all the way there, "Sorry I'm late you guys! I got a little tied… KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Kakashi was, yet again, tackled to the ground by another one of his former students in a vice-grip like hug.

"Heheh. Nice to see you again too, Naruto-kun. It's been a while," The silver-haired jounin said, amusement clearly showing in his voice. It had been over a year since he'd last seen his former blond-haired student.

Glancing up at Kakashi, Naruto smirked and hugged his former teacher even tighter, "No shit! I've missed you, Sensei!" the blond exclaimed happily.

Chuckling at Naruto's antics, Kakashi playfully messed up his hair more than it already was, an amused look on his face, "You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you."

The group reminisced about old times for an hour or so. Laughing and joking with each other. To Sakura, it felt like old times again.

**An Hour or two later--------------------**

On her way to work after training, Sakura stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop to get two bouquets of flowers for her parents at the memorial stone. When she was at the stone, she stayed and talked to them, telling them some things she had forgotten to talk about. After talking to her parents for ten to twenty minutes, Sakura left the Memorial Stone and went home. She strolled through the streets of Konoha, whistling nonchalantly as she headed to the hospital to where she would be working late into the evening.

At the hospital, Sakura had an unusually high number of patients that day. She had anywhere from fifteen to twenty patients, half of them had serious injuries that needed immediate attention, which made Sakura use up a lot of her chakra.

By the end of the day, Haruno Sakura was completely bushed. She was surprised that she was even able to make it home after work, she was so tired.

After clocking out for the night, the pink-haired medic trudged home, bleary eyed and exhausted from the days work.

**Later that night---------------------------**

After a long days work at the hospital, Sakura walked in the door of her house and collapsed on her couch. She took the invitation to the banquet at the Uchiha estate out of her weapons pouch that she still had with her and looked at it. She turned the card over in her hand, reading the amazing penmanship written on it.

It was a beautiful card. The penmanship was lovely, and the design on it was absolutely stunning. She read the card to herself

_Friends, family, and residents of Konoha,_

_On March 20th at 6:00 pm, come to the Uchiha_

_Estate to celebrate the announcement_

_of Uchiha_ _Itachi's fiancée._

"Why did I agree to this? What in the seven hells was I thinking when I agreed to go to this thing? I can't face Itachi again, not after I decked him!"

Sighing she cracked her neck as she laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Sakura yawned and stretched her muscles out.

_'You agreed to go to the banquet because Uchiha-sama went out of his way to make sure that you would attend. And you don't say no to THE Uchiha-sama, simple as that. But still, why does he want someone like me to show up at this banquet? Why would he go out of his way to make sure I attend? It doesn't make sense to me.'_

Heaving another sigh, Sakura looked at her clock and realized it was almost midnight. Yawning loudly, she headed to her room.

'Uhn… I'm too exhausted from training AND work. I can always try and figure out the reason behind this later when I'm not so god damned tired.'

Sakura changed into her pajamas, a pair of flannel PJ bottoms with butterflies all over them and a plain red spaghetti strap top, and climbed into bed. When Sakura laid down, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	3. An Unexpected Outcome

**A/N: YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I've finally finished the third chapter -is all swirlly eyed- after like what, 2 weeks or something?XD **

**Disclaimer: Me still no own Naruto...Other than the DVDs I havewith Narutoepisodes, a kakashi keychain...and a kakashi plushie! -huggles plushie-. **

**Suki: now This is a present to all my reviewers for waiting so paitently...-drags Gaara out- **

**Gaara: -is wearing a tutu with fairy wings and a tiara and ballette slippers and a wand- I hate you...-glares daggers at Suki-. **

**Suki: -ignores Gaara- now that we have all THAT delt with...ONWARD WITH THE FIC! **

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**How Love Blossoms Beneath the Sakura Tree **

**By: ToraYashaChan **

**Chapter 3: **

For Sakura, the rest of the week went by without any more out of the ordanary incidents happening. She went to training and her job at the hospital every day. Her team wasn't given any new missions, so they just trained.

The only thing that was different about this week was that people in Konoha were talking nonstop about the banquet at the Uchiha estate and making guesses about who Itachi would be spending the rest of his life with.

Sakura, on the other hand, could care less about the banquet. In fact, she was dreading it. The pink-haired medic could understand why people were so excited about it. But that didn't do anything to make her feel any better about going.

The other thing that was kind of weird was that Kakashi was spending more time with Team 7 when they were training. He would offer to spar with somebody so the three of them could fight one on one instead of them all fighting each other.

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On the evening of the banquet, Sakura entered the Uchiha estate where it was being held. As she walked in the room, she saw the table where all her friends, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Lee, and Chouji, were sitting.

"Hey guys!" The pink-haired medic chirped as she ran over to them, grinning down at the group, "Have I missed anything?" She asked, looking rather worried that she might have missed the announcement.

Ino grinned right back at her pink haired childhood friend and shook her head.

"Nope, you haven't missed anything. People have just barely started sitting down to eat," she replied, motioning for Sakura to sit down in the chair next to her.

Taking her seat, she gave a sigh of relief, "Ah, good," she replied. A little bored she looked up at the ceiling. _'I wonder who Itachi's fiancée will be.'_

Then Sakura began to look around at all the other kunoichi that were attending the banquet.

_'There are so many eligible girls here that would make great wives for Itachi, I wonder which one will be picked tonight.'_ She thought as she looked around the dining hall. '_That's most likely the question on everybody's mind tonight. Why else would they be here?' _

For a while, Sakura talked with her friends about a multitude of things. For example, she talked with Tenten on how her training was going and sharing different tips that they had learned on how to use different weapons, and listening to Rock Lee talk about some new taijutsu he had mastered recently. She even talked to Naruto and Sasuke about what they were planning on doing for their next training session tomorrow.

About half an hour into talking with her friends, a girl that looked an awful lot like Itachi came walking up to the table. She had the same dark hair, there faces were pretty close but she didn't have the two lines under her eyes like Itachi did, **(A/N: For all of you who know what Itachi looks like, you know what I mean, to those that don't, look for a picture of him on google.)** and her hair was longer and she let it flow freely.

Sasuke noticed her almost immediately, "Tsuki-san! You're back from your mission already? But Mom said you wouldn't be back till next week!" he exclaimed in surprise.

The raven-haired kunoichi smirked at Sasuke, "Why do you insist on calling me that Sasuke? You know how horrible I am with formalities. We're family, so just call me Tsuki, got it?" she said as she sat down next to him, "Anyways. Introduce me to all your friends!"

Neji was the first of the group to speak, "I'm Hyuga Neji.'

"Rock Lee!"

"Tenten."

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Akimichi Chouji."

"Yamanaka Ino! Nice to meet you!"

"Ah… this is troublesome… Nara Shikamaru."

"Hyuga Hinata." Hinata mumbled quietly.

"Aburame Shino."

"Inuzuka Kiba!"

Tsuki's gaze fell on Sakura for a moment when the pink-haired kunoichi stated her name, but quickly hid it as she went and looked around the whole table after everyone had said their name, "It's very nice to meet you all," she grinned as she messed up Sasuke's hair, "Do you mind if I eat with you guys? I know that my dear cousin wouldn't mind, would you Sasuke?"

Sasuke just glared at his older cousin as she messed up his hair, "Only if you stop doing THAT to my hair Tsuki..." he replied grumbling in annoyance.

The raven-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes in exasperation, "_FINE_. I'll stop. As long as it gets me away from Uncle Fugaku talking about Konoha politics with random people who come walking by. It gets boring after a while."

Ino nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that DOES sound boring. I've never been one for politics either."

"Really! Cool! I've finally found someone else who doesn't like politics! You're my new best friend Ino!"

And with that, Ino and Tsuki went rambling about how much they hated politics and how boring and annoying it was.

Sasuke anime sweat dropped at his cousin's actions, but said nothing as he watched the pair start ranting about the evils of politics and such.

Sakura found their conversation rather amusing. Snickering at a part where they started "making plans" to take over the government of Konoha and change it to their liking.

After a while when the group ran out of things to talk about, and Ino and Tsuki's anti political conversation had died down, everyone continued eating their meal in silence for the most part. Though small conversations popped up here and there throughout the rest of the evening between people at their table.

Sakura smiled at everyone as she ate her dinner. She was deep in thought for a large portion of the banquet, listening to the different conversations that people had. Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself. Sakura hadn't thought she would have a good time at this dinner because she had been dreading having to face Itachi again after she had hit him, luckily their paths hadn't crossed yet. All in all, Sakura was having a good time.

_'I'm glad I came tonight, I don't get to see all my friends together in one place very often. It's so nice when I get to spend time with them like this.'_

**------------------------------------- **

After an hour or so of chatting and eating, Uchiha Fugaku **(A/N: In case you didn't know, that's Sasuke and Itachi's dad.)** stood up from his chair, along with Uchiha Mikoto **(A/N: Itachi and Sasuke's mother.)** and signaled for the attention of everyone in the room.

"Friends, family, and fellow citizens of Konoha, on behalf of my wife and two sons, I would like to thank you all for coming this evening," he said, eyes sweeping over the crowd as he spoke.

Uchiha Mikoto cleared her voice with a small cough and continuing where her husband left off, "As you all know, tonight is the night that my son Itachi's fiancée is being announced," the dark blue haired woman said, beaming at all the guests, "and I can imagine that you all are anxious to find out who that lucky young woman is going to be."

Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat in anticipation as she waited for the announcement. She unconsciously leaned towards the heads of the Uchiha clan as Mikoto spoke.

Continuing with what she was saying, Mikoto looked around the dining hall at all the guests, her gaze falling on Sakura's table for a brief moment, but then moving on, "Our family will welcome this young woman into our clan with open arms. We're very happy to announce the new addition to our household is..." Mikoto grinned inwardly as she saw everyone's eyes were glued to her, waiting to hear who her son's new wife would be, "... Haruno Sakura." She finished, motioning to the girl as she said this.

Immediately following the announcement, the dining hall was filled with the excited chatter of all the guests. Many young kunoichi around Sakura's age were giving her cold looks. They were very upset that she was chosen to be the wife of Konoha's heart throb, Uchiha Itachi.

While all the chatter was going on in the dining hall, Sakura sat there dumbfounded. She was pretty sure that her jaw literally hit the floor out of sheer surprise and shock of the entire situation. She had a completely shocked expression on her face as she stared at the head table where Itachi and his parents were.

_'ME! I'm going to be Itachi's fiancée! What the HELL is going on here! This can't be real! Okay, just calm down Sakura, this is probably some bad dream, when you open your eyes, you'll be in your bed, at home, not engaged to Uchiha Itachi.' _

To Sakura's dismay her thoughts didn't work as Ino suddenly tackled her in hug, "Oh my GOD! Congratulations Sakura! I am so jealous of you! You get to marry Itachi! You are so lucky!" She exclaimed with excitement as she hugged her friend, squealing out of sheer happiness.

The pink-haired medic went and covered up how surprised and upset she was about the engagement to Itachi and smiled weakly at her blond-haired friend, "Heheh... thank you Ino." She replied, trying her best to sound happy and excited about this, "That means a lot to me."

Sasuke chuckled at Ino's antics as he watched with amusement, "Welcome to the family Sakura." He said, giving one of his unusual real smiles.

Tsuki nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Uncle Fugaku picked a great girl to be that stick in the mud, Itachi's wife." She said with a grin.

Sakura blushed slightly at their comments, "Thank you Sasuke-kun, Tsuki-san." She replied, smiling back at them like she had Ino.

_'What am I going to do? I can't say no to this arrangement. I would probably be hated by the entirety of the Uchiha clan if I didn't agree to it. I don't want that to happen. Sasuke has been like a big brother to me, and I don't want to loose that.' _

After about five to ten minutes of random people congratulating her on being picked to be Itachi's fiancée, Sakura suddenly realized that Itachi had been watching her for quite some time now.

Her face went completely red at this realization and turned her back on the Uchiha prodigy, refusing to make eye contact with him. She may have to marry the guy, but that didn't mean she had to like it. But he never took his gaze off of her. In fact, he just stared at her even more intently than he had before.

_'DAMN IT! Why does he have to keep on staring at me like that? It's getting very annoying!' _

She continued to have conversations with people who walked by to congratulate her as they filed out of the dining hall once they had finished eating.

Once the majority of people had left, Sakura decided that she was going to get out of there too and go home to sort all of this out. Plus, she was getting sort of tired from all the excitement and stress of the evening.

With a yawn, Sakura stretched and stood up from where she was sitting, "Ngh... I think I'll be heading home now you guys," she said to all her friends that were still at the table with her, "I'm exhausted and I need my sleep. So I'll see you guys later, ok?"

Everyone nodded and waved as she started leaving, congratulating her one last time before she left.

Sakura was almost to the door when Mikoto stopped her, "Are you going home Sakura-chan?" She asked, beaming at the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura nodded, "Yes Mikoto-san, I'm tired, so I decided that I should go home and get some sleep." She replied, smiling back at her.

Mikoto nodded, "Alright, but I don't want you walking home alone at night," she replied, "I'll have Itachi walk you home, okay."

The pink-haired medic almost passed out at Mikoto's words, "N-no... Mikoto-san, that's quite alright. I'm perfectly fine walking home on my own." She said, trying not to sound too distressed.

"Don't be silly Sakura! You and Itachi need all the alone time to get to know each other better, and I know with both of your schedules being so busy that you wont get many chances to do that for awhile. I insist on it."

With that, Sakura knew that there just wasn't any way she was getting out of this. Itachi was walking her home, and that's that.

_'Oh, that's just GREAT... just what I need, alone time with that stupid prick.'_ She thought sarcastically. _'Especially after what happened during our last "alone time"!' _

Sakura sighed in defeat, "Yes Mikoto-san. It would be best for Itachi to walk me home." She replied, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice as she spoke.

Mikoto beamed at Sakura, "Good! Itachi, can you come over here for a moment?"

Itachi came walking over to them when Mikoto called him over, "Yes? What is it mother?" He asked.

"Will you walk Sakura-chan home? She's tired and wants to get some sleep." Mikoto replied. She said it with a sweet voice but it sounded like an order, not a request.

Sighing, Itachi nodded, "Yes mother. I'll take her..." He replied walking over to Sakura and taking her hand, "Come on Sakura-chan. Let's get you home." He said as he started walking out of the dining hall holding her hand as he headed off of the estate.

When Itachi grabbed her hand, Sakura just stared and went into super shock mode and just followed looking very confused as he led her off of the Uchiha estate.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Shikamaru: -talking with Ino and Neji- Alirght, I bet you ten bucks that when they get to Sakura's house, Itachi is going to screw her senseless... **

**Ino: I bet ten that it will be Sakura screwing Itachi senseless... **

**Neji: I bet you twenty that nothings going to happen... **

**Suki: -glares at the trio, but then decides to ignore them- anyways -coughs- hope you enjoyed this chapter.Oh! And R&R please!**


End file.
